A Bridge to the Starry Skies (Anime)

If you're looking for an anime that has the word "kawaii" all over it, then we suggest "A Bridge to the Starry Skies" (Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi). It's a pretty nice romantic comedy / harem anime but warn you, it's extremely shonen so expect a lot of "shonen" shots.

"A Bridge to the starry Skies" (Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi) has only 12 epsiodes. Kazuma Hoshino, the main protagonist in the series, was asked by his parents to move to the countryside with his sickly younger brother, Ayumu.

On their way to Yoruzuyo Inn, where they were prearranged by their father to stay, the brothers got on the wrong bus and were forced to wait for the next ride at a stop. While they were waiting, a monkey playfully steals Ayumu's hat so Kazuma went after the monkey in the forest to retrieve it. He was able to get the hat back but he got lost.

Fortunately, he bumped into Ui Nakatsugawa who was there gathering mountain vegetables. Ui was leading him to the bus stop but as he was right to cross the river, he tripped and accidentally tackled Ui to the ground also unintentionally kissing her as they fall. And so their story begins...

This is a feel-good and entertaining anime and that's all there is to it. I guess what we like about "A Bridge to the Starry Skies" is its setting. We've always dreamt of living in places like the "Yamabiko" in this anime. If we were to live in Japan, we'd choose anywhere in the Ishikawa Prefecture.

Fresh air, Fresh food, peaceful and friendly neighborhood, blue skies, trees, natural playground... heaven!

That's it for now. We end this post with a quote by Dave Singleton: "Understand what each of your triggers are - and learn how to avoid them." =)

tags: A Bridge to the Starry Skies, Anime, good shonen manga, harem anime, Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi, kazuma, romantic comedy

Shangri-la (Anime)

Shangri-la is a Japanese science fiction that takes place in a neo-futuristic age, in which the international law strictly enforces each country to reduce CO2 emission levels to alleviate the global warming crisis.

Because of this, the economic market is transferred mainly to the trade of carbon. A great earthquake destroyed much of Japan yet the carbon tax (tax levied on all countries that emit carbon dioxide) placed on the country was not lifted so Tokyo has become the world's largest "jungle-polis" that absorbs carbon dioxide.

While the jungle-polis becomes too toxic for humans to live in, a tower city called "Atlas" was built to relocate "everyone".

However the government lied and Atlas was only built with enough room for the rich, privileged and "winners" of the Atlas lottery.

The story centers on an extremely athletic girl named Kuniko Hojo who fights for the less-privileged outside Atlas. Although we don't consider Shangri-la as one of the greatest anime there is, it does have a nice plot and it does have one of the best heroine.

The first half of the series is not what you would watch straight in a day but after that it can become addicting. Although it gets confusing at times, it's a pretty interesting anime with a pretty decent ending. There are only 24 episodes and you can watch the complete series on Crunchyroll.

Thanks and have a great week ahead!

tags: Anime, Kuniko Hojo, Shangri-la

Gosick (Anime)

I've been watching first episodes of anime on Crunchyroll today and what got my attention was this show called "Gosick".

"Gosick takes place in 1924 in a small, French-speaking fictional European country of Sauville nestled beside the alps. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a high ranking officer of Japanese Imperial Army, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve. The series mostly focuses on Kazuya and Victorique getting involved in different mystery cases and their struggle to solve them, at the same time forming important bonds with different people."

Gosick has a Detective Conan feel to it but still it's distinctive. I like the drawing. I love the setting. Love-love-love the opening song ("Destin Histoire")! I also love the chemistry between Kazuya and Victorique. They just made it to my favorite anime couples list. Victorique is sooo kawaii! She reminds me of L from Death Note because she's also a genius and she eats as much sweets. Her hair is absolutely gorgeous! She's like Rapunzel but cuter. =)

Although I got this clip from the intro-video, my favorite quote in the first episode was:

Hah! Boredom is also my archenemy. So I imagine myself to be Victorique and Naldo to be Kazuya. But thinking about it... Naldo is the genius one. Wait, wait - I have a sweet tooth so yeah... I can still be Victorique. Yay! Hahaha! Imagination. Don't you just love that word?

Anyway, my favorite episode is Ep. 8 "Howling Echoes from the Kingdom of the Past." If you watch Gosick, you'll understand why. I can't believe I watched the whole series (24 episodes) straight in a day.

So if you like detective stories in anime, then you might just like "Gosick". Have a great Friday!

p.s We don't own the images. All rights reserved to the creators/writers of Gosick.

tags: Anime, Gosick, Kazuya Kujo, Victorique de Blois, detective anime

Eiga Sai 2011

It's Philippines-Japan Friendship month again and so we were at the Eiga Sai 2011 in Shang Cineplex Cinema 4, Shangrila Plaza.

We almost missed this year's event and we're just glad we were able to make it to watching the anime Summer Days with Coo.

The movie was worth waking up early. Summer Days with Coo is about a young water-sprite finding his place in the modern world. Coo, the water sprite, has been buried underground / trapped inside a rock since the Edo period. Hundreds of years later, a young boy named Koichi found him and brought him to his house thinking he was some sort of fossil. Of course we're not going to tell you more. It's a really nice movie so we hope you get to watch it too.

This year's Eiga Sai movies were:

Departures

One Million Yen Girl

The Chef of South Polar

Summer Days With Coo

Your Friend

Climber's High

Yunagi City, Sakura Country

The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones

Villon's Wife

Feel The Wind

Arigatou Gozaimasu!

*You may also want to check Eiga Sai 2010.

One Piece quote

... and believing!

...and don't underestimate friendship!!!

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!

Fruits Basket

There's a rumor going on that there will be a Hollywood remake of Fruits Basket. Hope they make it close to its manga. Anyway, here's a photo-quote from the anime.

Full Metal Panic

Here are quote-clips from Full Metal Panic.

Meanwhile, cheer up! =)

Summer Wars (anime)

We just watched this two-hour animation film last night. It's awesome! Summer Wars is science fiction but it's very tangible in so many ways. It's about a high school student who got invited by his senior in school to help in celebrating her grandmother's birthday. We won't say anything else as it'll be a spoiler. What we love the most about the film is it's setting. Hope they make a live-action of this.

Thanks to Myke for this . :-)

Beast Player Erin

Beast Player Erin (Kemono no Sou-ja Erin) is an anime about a green-eyed girl who can tame creatures with the use of her harp.

We like how everything (characters, setting, timeline, plot, etc.) is presented. It is so simple but not at all draggy. Since the chapter titles already give hints on what the episodes are about, then it's really silly guessing what's going to happen. What we're trying to say is that this is not a "guess-who-the-real-villain-is" or "guess-the-ending" kind of show. This anime gives you more than that. This show is so full of heart which you'll have to see for yourself.

Anyway, here are photo clips and quotes from each chapter. All quotes are from the subtitle, we didn't change a word of it. The subtitle isn't perfect but it's understandable. :-)

Chapter 1:Green-Eyed Erin

This isn't really a quote but we love the closing song specially it's last two lines.

Chapter 2: Soh-yon the Healer
The girl is Sah-ju - Erin's bestfriend in Akeh Village.

Stringent -adjective 1. rigorously binding or exacting; strict (definition from dictionary.com)

Chapter 3: The Fighting Beast

This is Dahmiyah - the Shin-oh's nephew.

Chapter 4: Secrets in the Mist
All workaholics think about is work - SO NOT TRUE! Just one of the things that this chapter reminds us. So if you live with one, don't forget to thank them for working so hard for you. We all have our ways to express our love and as they say just because it's not the way we want doesn't mean they don't.

Chapter 5: Erin and the Egg Thieves

Chapter 6: Sohyon`s Warmth

Chapter 7: A Mother`s Whistle
These are Nugan and Shunan - the Grand Duke's sons

Chapter 8: Joh-on the beekeeper

Chapter 9: Honey and Erin

Chapter 10: Birds of Dawn
This is Ia-lu - a sehzan or bodyguard of the Shin-oh and the royal family.

Chapter 11: Inside the Door

Chapter 12: The Silver Feather

Chapter 13: Valley of the Beast King (Ohju)

Chapter 14: People of the Mist
This is a recap episode of chapters 1-13.
This is Na-sohn - watchman and explorer of the People of the Mist.

Chapter 15: The Two's Past
These are Nuk and Mok.

Chapter 16: Ialu the Seh-zan
We think it should be "turn our backs to all...".

Chapter 17: Shin-oh in Danger
This is Princess Seimiyah - heir to the throne, granddaughter of Shin-oh Harumiyah.

Chapter 18: Master Esal
Master Esal: "This isn't Tamu-Yuan. At Kazalum, the Grand Master spends most of her life here. You won't be able to do your jobs, if you had any ambitions."
(Although this quote may seem odd, you'll understand what she's really trying to say once you watch the series. The "ambitions" has deeper meaning. )

Chapter 19: Friends at Kazalum

Chapter 20: The Ohju named Lilan/Lelang
There seem to be more than 1 person translating. Watching the series, we have noticed a lot of the names (spelling) change. Although we don't really mind it. We're just happy that Japan is able to share this with us.

Chapter 21: The Disappearing Light
This is Tomura -one of Kazalum's top students and a friend to Erin.

Chapter 22: The Harp's Sound

Chapter 23: The Oath of Kazalum

Chapter 24: Song of Grief

Chapter 25: An Errand for Two

Chapter 26: Lilan's/Lelang's Feelings

Chapter 27: Fallen into Hikara

Chapter 28: Joh-on's Death

Chapter 29: The Beast's Fangs

Chapter 30: The Fourth Winter

Chapter 31: Luminous Sky

Chapter 32: The Great Crime

Chapter 33: Flying

Chapter 34: Ia-lu and Erin

Chapter 35: A New Life

Chapter 36: The Graduation test

Chapter 37: Birth
This is Shiron- the third girl student at Kazalum.

Chapter 38: Shin-oh Harumiyah

Chapter 39: Tohda Attack

Chapter 40: A Nation in Shadow

Chapter 41: The Truth of Shin-oh
Shin-oh Harumiyah: "You have such composure. Even if the pond was murky, you would surely still be able to catch the fish swimming in there. "

Chapter 42: Seimiyah's Tears

Chapter 43: Beast Healer

Chapter 44: Akun-Meh-Chai

Chapter 45: Caged Bird

Chapter 46: The Bond Between the Two

Chapter 47: A Pure Night

Chapter 48: Dawn of Tahai-Azeh
We think the snow effect in this episode was too much.

Chapter 49: Final Battle

Chapter 50: Beast Player
(Ending)

Here’s a link to the official site (it's in Japanese but you can "google translate" it):
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/erin/

Here's where you can watch the complete series: http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Erin
Downside of this site is that if you're not an anime member, you'll have to experience a lot of ads.

FYI: This is a fan-post. We do not own any of the Beast Player Erin images. Thank you!